The Capitals have stepped into a 20-year time warp to reignite their WNBL title dreams and the past is adding extra motivation to their grand final bid.
The league's MVP favourite is one of three Capitals players contracted for the 2019-20 season.
Kelsey Griffin's path towards Canberra was paved after a huge make-over left her out of place in Bendigo.
Right now she has no plans beyond helping the Canberra Capitals win a championship.
The Canberra Capitals will kickstart the WNBL grand final series at the AIS Arena on Saturday,while the Big Bash League heads to Manuka Oval on the same night.
Tolo is the last link to Canberra's championship era and she hopes to break a grand final drought this week.
The Capitals will play Adelaide when they chase their first championship since 2010.
The Canberra Capitals have almost completed a remarkable rise from the bottom of the WNBL to the championship game.
Leilani Mitchell's signature confidence will help the Capitals hunt for a WNBL grand final berth.
Canberra only lost five of 22 games this season but two of those came on the road against Perth,who they face away in game two of the semi-finals on Thursday.
More than 5000 braved the heat which has plagued the arena since the days of the Canberra Cannons across two bumper days.